Ten Snapshots
by Ryeloza
Summary: A series of drabbles that focus on the pasts of different characters. Chapter eight: Orson
1. Bree

**Disclaimer: **_Desperate Housewives _is not mine in any way. I just like to amuse myself.

**Story Summary: **A series of drabbles that focus on the pasts of different characters.

**Ten Snapshots**

By **Ryeloza**

**One: Bree**

**One**

There is a lot about being in church that feels unusual today. The world is tinged with sorrow; people are crying—even her father. And instead of sitting between Bree and her brothers, her mother lies in a cold, dark coffin. Somehow, though, the worst part is how unkempt Bree looks: her dress is just a bit too small and her hair is just a bit too mussed and her shoes are just a bit too scuffed. In her heart, Bree feels like she's letting her mother down and that simply makes an already horrible day just a little worse.

**Two**

"I have to have my hair in braids!" she begs, her eyes welling with tears. Her grandmother has no use for the emotion and she shakes her head, resolutely tying a big bow over the horrid ringlets she's set in Bree's hair.

She's still crying when she and her brothers leave for school, but once they're at the bus stop, Ted pulls out the bow and John finds one of his girl friends to plait her hair. "They're French braids," explains Jane as Bree inspects herself with Jane's compact mirror.

"What makes them French?" she asks, but Jane just laughs.

**Three**

She is too young to be a bridesmaid and Eleanor's little niece is the flower girl, so even though her older brothers get to be ushers, Bree has to sit next to her dear aunt Fern and watch her father's wedding from the sidelines. People seem to not realize she's there, because all day she hears gossipmongers whispering about how fast her father has remarried and how suspect it is. Even at the tender age of seven, and even not really realizing what people are alluding to, Bree feels acutely embarrassed to know that they're being judged for some reason.

**Four**

In second grade, Bree's teacher decides to assemble a class cookbook to give to their mothers for Mother's Day. They each have to bring in a recipe to include; Bree knows that her classmates all ask their relatives for help, but she stubbornly decides to search for one herself. She finds a recipe for peanut butter cookies and spends a Saturday afternoon baking with limited help. When she's done, Eleanor tries one –the recipe is for her, after all—and promptly tells Bree the cookies aren't good. So Bree keeps the present for herself and gives Eleanor a card instead.

**Five**

"Hey Bumble Bree! Hurry up!" John leans out the car window and yells this across the playground in front of most of her class, including Sarah and Amanda. They already tease Bree something awful about her red hair and as she picks up her bookbag she can hear them tittering about the stupid nickname she's had forever and a day. It's something she fondly remembers her mother calling her, the name soft and sweet on her lips, but she doesn't even think of that as she climbs into the car and snaps, "I'm not a baby! Stop calling me that!"

**Six**

Her sister dies on March 31, the same day she's born. Eleanor, who doesn't like children and often says to Bree, "Thank goodness you're old enough to take care of yourself now," even though she's only eleven, is devastated beyond Bree's comprehension. Once her father returns to work—because life goes on without fail—and leaves Eleanor alone, Bree faithfully returns from school every day and holds Eleanor's hand while she cries. It is their secret. Then one day she comes home to an empty house and a note: "Went out. Leftovers in the fridge." And she knows it's over.

**Seven**

She is fifteen the first time she tastes wine. Her father and Eleanor take her along on a month-long vacation to Europe when they can't find a family member to pawn her off on. Bree would have argued that she was old enough to mind the house herself—her housekeeping skills already exceed Eleanor's—but she preferred to go to France. There her father doesn't mind if she has a glass of wine with dinner and Bree finds that she loves the color, texture, taste and smell. It's calming and grown-up; when she arrives home she doesn't give it up.

**Eight**

One night she wakes up to the sound of her father arguing with her brother Ted. Quietly she creeps from her room to crouch at the banister at the top of the stairs and listen as her father shouts about responsibilities and reputations. All she can make out is that Ted plans to drop out of college, but she doesn't know why. The fight goes on and on, but her head begins to droop and Eleanor catches her half-asleep and orders her back to bed. The next morning, Ted is gone and no one will talk about where he went.

**Nine**

She receives a letter from Ted near her sixteenth birthday. In it, he rambles on about escaping a cookie-cutter life, their father's twisted expectations, and some girl named Libby. He ends with a plea: "You could be so much more than you think. Don't let everyone else drag you down just because they tell you there's only one way to live; it's not true. You're better than that. You're better than all of us." It doesn't take long for Bree to throw the letter into the trash; Ted is only right about one thing: she is better than he is.

**Ten**

She looks impeccable on the day of her high school graduation. Her dress is delicate and feminine and she makes sure to stand as long as possible to keep it wrinkle-free, even though no one will see it under her gown. Beneath the dark green of her cap, her hair gleams in perfection, and she has a warm, flattering smile pasted firmly on her face. Each picture captures a moment of flawlessness on her part so she will always be able to remember this day as faultless; this day as one where she disappointed no one, least of all herself.


	2. Carlos

**Disclaimer: **_Desperate Housewives _is not mine in any way. I just like to amuse myself.

**Story Summary: **A series of drabbles that focus on the pasts of different characters.

**Ten Snapshots**

By **Ryeloza**

**Two: Carlos**

**One**

Every day his mother walks him to and from school: ten blocks there; ten blocks back. In the mornings she prepares him for the day ahead. They review sums like: _eight plus twelve_ and _six plus nine_; and spelling words like: _friend _and _neighbor_.

In the afternoons they discuss the school day. Every day she asks, "What did you learn today in school?" and "What did you have trouble with?" He dutifully recites the answer, always proud and never lying because at six he believes everything she tells him.

And she always says, "You'll never be anything unless you're smart."

**Two**

One afternoon, Carlos' mother picks him up from a friend's house and they go to his aunt Connie's. "We live here now," she explains. "It's closer to school. You can walk there with your cousins now."

Carlos is mostly focused on the basketball hoop, but he pauses at this and looks up at his mother. "Why can't you take me?"

"I got a new job. I'll be working."

"That's stupid." Carlos kicks a rock and pouts. "What was wrong with your old job?"

"Don't be disrespectful, _mijo_." She doesn't answer his question, but, truthfully, Carlos really doesn't need her to.

**Three**

Two china dogs sit alongside his aunt's fireplace. Their names are Flap and Otto. For as long as Carlos can remember, every time he came into Connie's house her first words to him were, "Don't touch the dogs." Now that Carlos lives there, she no longer says this.

One day, Carlos sneaks the dogs into his backpack. His cousins never walk him home like they're supposed to, so after school Carlos goes to the pawn shop and sells the dogs for twenty-two dollars. Then he takes the money to his mother.

"Now you won't have to work anymore," he explains.

**Four**

Carlos' three cousins, Antonio, Rosie and Luis, are all older than he is. After the pawn shop incident, they offer him money to do things for them. Rosie gives him a quarter to hide her makeup in his backpack until they get to school. Antonio pays him to do his chores. Luis constantly offers him money just to go away. It's a good deal.

Carlos isn't stupid though. He knows they make fun of him for being poor and desperate. But every cent goes into a tin can in his closet, saved to get him one day closer to freedom.

**Five**

One day after school, Carlos sees Luis punch his friend Randy Lyons. Randy runs away and doesn't say anything, but Carlos goes straight to the principal's office and tells him what happened on the playground. His aunt is called to the school and Luis is suspended for the rest of the week. At home there is a lot of yelling and screaming, but no one knows that Carlos is the one who told. He treasures his secret; guards it carefully. For the first time in his young life, he feels powerful and it is a feeling he won't let go.

**Six**

"I know it was you."

It has been a week since Luis punched Randy. The words come out like slithering snakes into the dark room and Carlos shivers under his blankets. "What?" he asks, trying to sound confident.

"I'm not going to tell."

There is a long pause. Carlos is almost certain this is a trick, a way to get him to confess, but curiosity gets the best of him and he asks, "Why?"

"We're family, stupid. We have to protect each other."

Carlos bites his lip, feeling horribly guilty. "Mama says that."

"Well she's right. Remember that next time."

**Seven**

One night, Carlos sneaks out of bed to get his can of money. There is a girl at school with pretty eyes and cute dimples; he wants to buy her a present to show her he likes her. When there is no rattle of change, he becomes nervous; when he opens the can to find the money gone, he is irate. Without thinking, he pounces on Luis' bed, throwing wild punches with no regard to how much bigger his cousin is. The commotion wakes up the whole house, but Carlos doesn't back off until his uncle physically pulls him back.

**Eight**

The matter of the money isn't settled. Luis insists he never touched it, but Carlos won't believe him. They fight constantly—little matters escalated by the thievery—and Carlos takes to sleeping on the couch. He won't speak to Luis until he admits what he did.

At night, he hears his mother and aunt in the kitchen, fighting about the money. Carlos is sure Mama is sticking up for him. He's sure she's going to get his money back. It's just a matter of time.

Then, one morning, his mother wakes him and announces they're moving in with his grandmother.

**Nine**

"I want to put my money in the bank."

Carlos announces this with the utmost seriousness. He has a job after school now delivering groceries, and he no longer trusts his tin can system.

"Then put it in the bank."

"You have to sign on the account with me. I'm too young to do it myself."

His mother stares at him with sad eyes. "Ask your grandmother to do it, _mijo_. I shouldn't."

"But—"

"I took your money, Carlos."

Carlos doesn't understand; can't understand. All he knows is that he would have given her the money if she'd asked.

**Ten**

At fourteen, there is a lot that Carlos finally understands.

He understands that he has to be smart so he can get into college and then find a good job.

He understands that his family will always take care of him.

He understands that his mother has a gambling problem.

When the money finally runs out and his grandmother can't support them and there's absolutely no way to possibly pay the bills, Carlos is the one who takes his mother to his aunt's and says, "We live here now. And you need to get help."

At fourteen, Carlos finally understands.


	3. Edie

**Disclaimer: **_Desperate Housewives _is not mine in any way. I just like to amuse myself.

**Story Summary: **A series of drabbles that focus on the pasts of different characters.

**Ten Snapshots**

By **Ryeloza**

**Three: Edie**

**One**

At the age of four, Edie is a shadow.

She trails behind her older sister, Carly, and when people speak to her she uses Carly as a barrier, dropping her eyes and petulantly sucking her thumb. She believes that if she can't see someone then they can't see her; so far it's working well. Carly speaks for both of them.

At home it's different. Her mother calls her big mouth because she constantly chatters; retelling every tale she's observed with her pale blue eyes. "Why do you save it all for me?" her mother complains.

Edie doesn't know the answer.

**Two**

Her first friend is a boy named Lucky D'Agosto. They sit next to each other in school; Lucky all big ears and toothy grins and Edie a quiet little mouse. Every day, Lucky tries to get Edie to crack a smile, but they're few and far between. The other boys tease her because she screams more easily than she laughs; the girls don't pay attention to her because she's so quiet. But for some reason, Lucky pesters her constantly by pulling funny faces and drawing goofy pictures and making smart remarks to their teacher—all just to hear Edie laugh.

**Three**

"I don't know why you're so quiet," says Lucky. He's balancing on a fence while Edie sits on the ground watching. "You're a lot better when you talk."

Edie picks a dandelion and blows it so the little white seeds fly away. "What if the other kids don't like me?"

"They already don't like you. And if they still don't like you when you talk then at least you can defend yourself. I'm sick of yellin' at everyone who picks on you."

A flicker of fear runs through Edie. "You're not gonna stop?"

"Well…No. I guess I can't."

Edie smiles.

**Four**

"Edith! Caroline!"

Edie bites her lip and Carly rolls her eyes. Their father is always yelling about something and he always uses their full names when he does. His big feet stomp into the room _clomp clomp clomp_ and he glares at the girls and holds up a newspaper. "What is this?"

Edie squirms as Carly answers. "It's a newspaper."

"It's my crossword!"

"Okay."

"Which of you wrote on here?"

Edie swallows hard and answers in her tiniest voice. "Me."

"This is my puzzle, Edith. Mine. You can't touch things that don't belong to you!"

She frowns and nods meekly.

**Five**

Every year, Edie and Carly spend a week at their grandmother's while their parents go on a vacation. It's a week spent horseback riding and swimming in the pond behind the house and sleeping out on the front porch under the stars. It's the one time of year that Edie feels free.

And every year, on the last day, as they say their goodbyes, her grandmother holds Edie tight and whispers, "You don't have long to shine in this world, Edie-kins, so you shine the brightest you can while you're here."

Edie always tries, but she never thinks she succeeds.

**Six**

The summer after fifth grade, Lucky comes to her house to announce that he's skipping sixth grade and Edie's whole world promptly falls apart. Carly's fifteen and she no longer has much patience for Edie. She's more interested in boys and booze and learning how to drive. Now Lucky is abandoning her too—off to an unforgiving middle school to leave Edie alone in sixth grade. As she stands there with tears in her eyes, Lucky just pats her shoulder condescendingly and tuts, "Just stop being such a baby and you'll be fine."

And something inside of Edie finally snaps.

**Seven**

For eleven years, no one noticed Edie Britt. She was a shadow; a quiet little girl who screamed or cried at the slightest provocation.

When Edie enters sixth grade, no one recognizes her.

She's like a storm cloud now. She dresses in dark colors and pulls her hair back sharply, but mostly what people notice is the look in her eyes. There's something there that wasn't before—pride and anger and hurt—because she's tired. She's tired of letting other people push her around. She's tired of being thought of as a baby.

It's time for Edie to be grown-up.

**Eight**

"What's with you lately?" asks her dad one night.

"What do you mean?"

"You're dressing funny."

Her mother's eyes narrow. "Leave her alone, Mort."

"What? I'm just saying. She's dressed like she's going to a funeral." He gives her a look that Edie can't decipher. "You think the kids are gonna like you dressing like that?"

She looks down at her outfit, unsure. "They didn't like me the way I dressed before."

"That's because you're a weirdo. Why don't you start acting normal?"

"Mort!"

Her parents' argument washes over Edie; for some reason, she just can't understand what normal is.

**Nine**

One rare day when Edie is fourteen, Carly takes her out to get ice cream. For a moment, it's like it was when they were little, sitting on a picnic bench outside the Dairy Queen with the hot sun beating down on their heads. Then Carly says, "Boys suck." There is a pause and she adds, "I'm pregnant."

Edie, who just lost her virginity a week ago to her pimply-faced boyfriend, Steve, doesn't know what to say. Suddenly she wants to take a pregnancy test. "Oh."

"I'm gonna keep it. I guess. Don't tell Mom and Dad yet."

"Yeah. Okay."

**Ten**

At the age of seventeen, Edie is a rock.

She knows she's still not normal. She doesn't dress the right way or say the right things or have the right friends. She gets dirty looks for not having a boyfriend, but still never wants for male attention. She knows what the girls call her behind her back. Her parents are divorced and her father acts like she never existed. Her three-year-old nephew is the only person who regularly says he loves her.

It's not normal, but it's slowly starting to not bother Edie as much.

Because Edie is a rock.


	4. Gabrielle

**Disclaimer: **_Desperate Housewives _is not mine in any way. I just like to amuse myself.

**Story Summary: **A series of drabbles that focus on the pasts of different characters.

**Ten Snapshots**

By **Ryeloza**

**Four: Gabrielle**

**One**

"I want a first communion dress!" Gabrielle gazes at her mother with big eyes. Sometimes the look, coupled with the demand, gets her exactly what she wants.

"She wants everything I have!" snaps Elena, stamping her foot and receiving a muffled chastisement from their mother's pin-filled mouth. "Last week she stole my earrings."

"I did not!" Gabrielle prepares to defend herself—their mother always takes Elena's side—but her father picks her up and pulls her into his lap.

"Just three years. Then you'll get to wear it too."

Another hand-me-down. Just once she wants something that is all hers.

**Two**

Her dad is going to heaven soon. This has been explained to her many times, but no one ever answers her only question: "Why?"

They go to the hospital every night and Gabrielle gets ten minutes to spend alone with him. It's scary to see the tubes and machines, but when he smiles at her Gabrielle feels better. "There's my beautiful girl," he says every time.

One night is different. Her dad speaks to her seriously about respecting her mom, always going to church and being a good girl. "And always keep smiling," he says.

Two days later, he's gone.

**Three**

Aunt Cecelia babysits them a lot after their dad dies. Their mom is busy; Gabrielle doesn't know what she's doing, but it makes Cecelia angry. She and Mom fight about jobs and men; it always ends with Cecelia yelling, "You have three kids!"

Then her mom says: "So?"

Whenever this happens, they have to go outside to play until Cecelia leaves. Every time she goes, she gives them a big smile like nothing is wrong. Then one day Mom says she's getting married. Cecelia gets so mad that she leaves without saying goodbye.

Then they don't see her much anymore.

**Four**

Gabrielle sits and stares.

There's a painting that hangs in the hallway of their house of a woman in a long red dress with a sea of people watching her dance; fans admiring a beautiful woman. Gabrielle pretends that she's the woman, throwing coy glances at—

"Before Dad died he told me I'm the man of the house now!" Marco's voice is loud; hard to ignore.

And her mother, impossible: "You are thirteen. You're not a man at all yet."

Their fight escalates; Gabrielle has to imagine that the noise is the crowd's adulation. Someday, she thinks, it will be.

**Five**

Marco spends less time at home after their mother gets married. Gabrielle doesn't know where he goes, but she thinks he's being a baby. Now that they have Alejandro, they finally have money. They get to live in a house with more than one bedroom. And Alejandro isn't so bad. He gives her a communion dress of her very own.

"Mom is a whore," Marco says when she finally asks about it.

"No she's not!"

"She only married him for his money. What do you think a whore is?"

Gabrielle can't understand why wanting money is such a bad thing.

**Six**

"You're so stupid." Gabrielle stands with her arms crossed, scowling at Elena. "Johnny is a loser."

Elena barely pays attention. "You don't know anything," she says indifferently. She's packing quickly like there's some reason to be in a hurry to leave. Gabrielle hates her for it. She's going to throw everything away to be with a boy who already has two kids with another girl. It makes no sense. Elena is gorgeous—full figured and sexy—everything Gabrielle wants to be.

"You could have any guy you want," she points out.

"I don't want any guy."

Gabrielle rolls her eyes.

**Seven**

When she smiles prettily Alejandro gives her money.

Ten dollars to go to the movies; fifty for the top she saw at the mall; twenty to buy her boyfriend a birthday present. It's a good deal—surprising. Before this she never suspected a smile was really worthwhile.

For some reason her mother doesn't like it. She pulls Gabrielle aside, squeezing her shoulder so hard that it hurts and seething: "Stop being such a tease." Gabrielle doesn't understand how a smile can be teasing, so when Alejandro starts handing her the money when her mother isn't around, she doesn't say no.

**Eight**

It begins with the creak of her bedroom door.

The sound barely rouses her at first—she thinks it's Elena, crashing at home after a fight with Johnny. Then she feels someone sit on her bed; heavy breathing; the smell of beer. Her heartbeat increases and she opens her eyes. It's Alejandro.

The rest is a blur. His thick body on top of her; hot breath on her neck; and pain. Lots of pain.

Then he's gone again. Like nothing happened.

Afterward, she crawls into the shower and sits under the spray, not noticing when the hot water turns cold.

**Nine**

Gabrielle doesn't know what to do.

At first she just ignores what happened. Alejandro doesn't say anything and she's terrified to tell her mom. Every time Alejandro so much as looks at her, her mother glares at her with hatred in her eyes. She starts to think maybe it was there the whole time, she just didn't notice.

Once she tries to tell Elena. She gets as far as, "Can I tell you something? About Alejandro?"

Elena shakes her head; she won't meet Gabrielle's eyes. "Just get out. Don't look back."

For the first time, she rethinks why Elena left.

**Ten**

A month later it almost happens again.

She barely sleeps anymore, so this time she hears the heavy footsteps in the hall. In a second she's out of bed, escaping through the window just as the door creaks open. She stays at friend's house and doesn't go back home until the sun is high in the sky. No one is there, but she still packs frantically, scared that she'll be caught any minute.

As a final farewell, she steals every cent of money she can find. It's enough to buy a bus ticket to New York.

She never looks back.


	5. Lynette

**Disclaimer: **_Desperate Housewives _is not mine in any way. I just like to amuse myself.

**Story Summary: **A series of drabbles that focus on the pasts of different characters.

**Ten Snapshots**

By **Ryeloza**

**Five: Lynette**

**One**

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

Lynette hears this a lot. She used to say, "I dunno," but she learned that talking back only makes her mother madder. Now she stays quiet and lets her mom smack her a few times. At least it ends faster.

She really doesn't know what's wrong with her. She's kind of scrawny and her hair is usually messy and her knees are always skinned, but she knows other girls like that and their moms aren't as angry as hers. So it must be something else.

Lynette just can't figure out what it is.

**Two**

Her teacher gives her a note to take home to her mom. She opens it even though she's not supposed to, but it's in cursive writing, which Lynette can't read. When she gets on the bus she gives it to her friend Jan's older sister to read.

"It says you have a bad temper."

"What does that mean?" asks Jan.

"It means I shouldn't'a pushed Bobby."

When she gets home, Lynette gives the note to her dad instead of her mom. He reads it slowly, wrinkles it into a ball and throws it away. "Don't do it again," he says.

**Three**

One morning, Lynette wakes up when her mother rips the covers off of her, grabs her ankle and pulls her out of bed. She falls on the floor and hits her elbow, but she's too scared to cry.

"Get the hell out!"

Lynette doesn't understand. When she's bad, she gets sent to her room. "Where do you want me to go?"

"I don't care! Get out of my house!"

She can feel her heart pounding. "Why?"

"Shut up!" Her mother kicks her and Lynette scrambles to her feet. She isn't sure what's going on, but she knows she can't stay.

**Four**

She and Lucy stay at Aunt Charlotte's. Charlotte is old and sleeps a lot; she doesn't pay attention to them. Neither of them asks about their parents.

Then one day their mom shows up. "We need to talk," she says. "Your father left."

"Where'd he go?"

"It doesn't matter. You girls are gonna come home with me and your new sister."

Lynette finally notices the baby her mother's holding and crosses her arms defiantly. She feels safe here; she won't go back. "No."

Charlotte frowns. "You can't stay here, Lynette."

For the first time in a long time, Lynette cries.

**Five**

Seven.

Lynette learns to change diapers. She can warm up a bottle for the baby and tie Lucy's shoes.

Eight.

She can make sandwiches. Peanut butter and jelly is the easiest. Lucy complains that they have it all the time. Lynette tells her to shut up, but eventually she learns how to make pancakes too.

Nine.

They have to get physicals for school. Lynette is the one who calls the doctor's office. She finds a bus to take them. She sits with Lucy when they give her a shot.

Ten.

Her mom gets remarried. Every morning her stepdad makes breakfast.

**Six**

There's only one water fountain in the gym and they have to wait in line at the end of class to get a drink. Lynette always gets stuck behind Anna Fischer, who just stands there and drinks and drinks and drinks until they have to go back to class. It isn't fair. Lynette hates her.

"Hurry up!"

Anna ignores her, so Lynette taps her shoulder. "Excuse me, you need to hurry up!"

Slowly, Anna turns around and spits water right in Lynette's face. "No," she says, turning back to the fountain.

Furious, Lynette shoves Anna's head right into the spigot.

**Seven**

"You deal with her!" her mother yells to Glen when they get home. She has a tight grip on Lynette's hair so Lynette can't run away. Her stomach is in knots. She's been dealing with her mother's discipline her whole life; she has no idea what to expect from Glen.

Her mother pushes her forward, but Lynette remains tense—ready to run.

"What happened?"

"I pushed Anna's head into the water fountain."

"Why?"

Lynette frowns. No one ever asks why she does things. "Well, because…"

Glen nods thoughtfully. "Go to your room, Lynette. I'll be in to talk to you soon."

**Eight**

She can hear Glen and her mom fighting. Glen wants to send her to a counselor, but her mother says no. She's glad. The last thing she wants to do is talk. No one listens.

Glen finally comes into her room carrying a notebook. "I'm not going to lecture you," he says. "You know what you did was wrong."

Lynette shrugs.

"This is for you." He sets the notebook on her nightstand. "It's a journal. I think it'll help if you're writing about what you feel."

"I don't feel anything."

Glen just shakes his head. "No, sweetie. You feel everything."

**Nine**

In third grade, Lynette wrote a story about breaking her arm. After she read it, her teacher always seemed suspicious.

Now, in sixth grade, she's horrified to find out she has Mrs. Curran again. Immediately, she lies low. Lynette doesn't want her to notice the stitches on her knee or her broken finger. But one day she has to stay after school.

"We need to discuss your schedule. You should be taking honors classes."

Lynette scoffs. "I'm not smart enough."

"That's only true if you keep thinking like that. You could do so much, Lynette."

She wonders if that's true.

**Ten**

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

Lynette looks up from her homework and takes off her glasses. She's learned the hard way how fragile they are. "What'd I do?"

Her mother smacks her. "Don't be smart."

Something inside Lynette snaps. "What the hell is wrong with _you_?"

"Excuse me?"

"You're my mother!"

"Yeah. I'm your mother."

They stare at one another, Lynette wondering if her mother will snap and beat the hell out of her. She decides that she won't let her. She'll fight back.

But her mother just walks away.

Lynette guesses she doesn't have an answer either.


	6. Mary Alice

**Disclaimer: **_Desperate Housewives _is not mine in any way. I just like to amuse myself.

**Story Summary: **A series of drabbles that focus on the pasts of different characters.

**A/n: **Just in case it throws anyone, I'm referring to Mary Alice as Angela throughout this chapter for obvious reasons. Thanks for reviewing!

**Ten Snapshots**

By **Ryeloza**

**Six: Mary Alice**

**One**

Angela never knows if it is going to be a happy day or a sad day.

The happy days are better, of course. She and her mom do things like eat ice cream for breakfast or go on a pretend safari or create their own cookie recipes. The whole day they smile.

But most days are sad days. Her mother lies on the couch with an afghan and watches television: the news, then soap operas, then game shows, then the news again. Angela—who sits there all day just to try to cheer her up—likes the soap operas best.

**Two**

Whistling is Angela's favorite sound. It's jaunty and friendly and it means that her father is home. He's a pilot and somehow her mother never knows when he's coming or going, so it's always a surprise. Just one hint of that happy sound and Angela goes running.

"Holy smokes, Angie," he says, and she giggles even though she knows what comes next. No matter if he's gone one day or ten he always says the same thing. "You've grown a whole inch since the last time I was home. You better stop that."

He hugs her as she laughs, "Never!"

**Three**

When Angela starts school in the fall, she walks almost every day by herself. It's only two blocks and usually there are other kids walking too. It's easy to pretend that she's not alone. Then, one day, she doesn't have to pretend.

The dog has mangy fur and a missing eye, but Angela loves him the moment she sees him digging scraps out of a garbage can. She gives him the meat out of her sandwich and names him Louie; after three days he starts to follow her to and from school. Angela doesn't mind; it's nice to have company.

**Four**

"And just who is this?"

It's a happy day—the first one in over a month—and Angela nearly skips as she and her mother walk to school hand-in-hand. In her excitement, she completely forgets about Louie until her mother asks the question.

"Oh," she says brightly. "This is my dog, Louie."

"Louie, huh?" Her mother pets him because on a happy day she doesn't mind dirty fur or a missing eye either. "I think he needs a bath if he's going to come into the house."

"Really?"

"Well it's getting cold out, Angela. He can't live outside all winter."

**Five**

After Louie comes Bob, Tigerlily, Whiskers and finally Yancy—an ugly cat with a propensity for hissing. Angela just brings them into the house; she cleans them up, gives them food and love whether or not her mother acknowledges them at the time. Eventually she cheers up and loves them as much as Angela does.

When her father comes home, he gives a lecture on taking in strays; about diseases and other worrisome things until he bundles Angela and her newest pet into the car and takes them to the vet. But after Yancy he sternly orders, "No more animals."

**Six**

The last happy day is Angela's tenth birthday. She comes home from school that day to find her mother icing a big, crooked cake and smiles when she yells, "Surprise! I've got something to show you!"

They go to the back yard—her mother in bare feet even though it's November—and Angela's mouth drops open. Every inch of foliage is covered in tiny Christmas lights; the picnic table is bedecked for a feast; a huge happy birthday banner hangs from her treehouse. It's the most beautiful sight she's ever seen; perfection marred only by her mother's frozen blue feet.

**Seven**

A few months later, The Incident occurs.

Angela is called out of class right in the middle of a spelling bee and the principal personally escorts her to his office. There he explains that _something_ happened to her mother and he's sure everything will be _okay_ and that her father is there to _deal with it_. Twenty minutes later, her father picks her up and they drive to the hospital together.

"It's going to be okay," he says, but his silent tears tell her otherwise. "Mom is sick, but we're going to get her help."

Angela just nods in response.

**Eight**

Her father takes a few months off of work, but when the doctors tell him that her mother can't come home anytime soon, he hires a babysitter to stay with Angela while he's gone. Mrs. Grear is about two hundred years old and has a voice raspy from years of smoking. From the moment she demands that Angela keep her "ugly beasts" outside, Angela hates her.

"Your mother's crazy," Mrs. Grear tells her as Angela does her homework. "Downing all those pills. She's never coming home, you know."

Angela ignores this, mostly because she's afraid Mrs. Grear might be right.

**Nine**

Mrs. Grear doesn't last long after she tells Angela's father her opinions about her mother's illness. He fires her and hires Jessica instead. Jessica is in her twenties, doesn't mind animals, and spends most of her time with Angela talking about her boy troubles. Soon she seems like an older sister.

"Why do you think she did it?" Angela finally asks her one day. It has taken months to find the courage to ask someone.

"I don't know. I don't know your mom."

"I don't think I know her either. And I'm never gonna understand."

"Well…maybe someday," Jessica offers weakly.

**Ten**

They finally let her see her mother right before her twelfth birthday. She hugs and kisses her and says, "I miss you," but Angela doesn't ask if she's coming home; they both know she's not and the visit feels like goodbye.

On the way home, her father says, "I got a new job so we can be together more. But it's in Detroit."

"Detroit?"

"Yeah." He squeezes her hand. "But it'll be the start of a whole new life. An adventure, Angie. And you can't be afraid of an adventure, can you?"

"No," she says slowly. "I guess you can't."


	7. Mike

**Ten Snapshots**

By **Ryeloza**

**Seven: Mike**

**One**

"Make a wish, Michael!"

Mike scowls at his birthday cake. The look is directed at his mother, but he knows if he makes a face at her, he won't get any cake on his birthday. He only has two wishes to choose from: to have a real adventure and for his mother to stop calling him Michael. He wants one more than the other, but even at five he knows that a birthday wish won't be enough.

"Jeez, Mike," snarls his daddy. "Hurry up!"

It's better to go with the sure thing. He shuts his eyes and wishes for adventure.

**Two**

The jungle is dense with huge trees and all around he hears exotic birds screeching. Mike waves his machete, cutting down the branches in his way. He's close to the treasure; just one big tree to climb and he'll be there.

"Michael! Come wash up!"

Mike sighs; oh the trials of bringing one's mother along to South America. He ignores her and climbs higher.

"Michael, now! Get down out of that tree and come inside!"

"Almost there," he mutters. He reaches up, but there's a terrible _crack_ and suddenly he's falling…

At least his mother managed to scream awful loud.

**Three**

Breaking his arm turns out to be the best thing that ever happened. Sure, his mother fawns over him like he's dying, but the kids at school treat him like a war hero. He won't tell anyone how he broke it, so they start to make up stories. There's even one about him fighting off a tiger that came out of the woods.

Suddenly Lenny and Bucky want him to eat lunch with them and they invite him to go fishing after school. Of course, with a broken arm, he can't do more than watch, but it's still pretty neat.

**Four**

Every summer, Mike's cousin Joycelyn comes to stay and he's forced to take her with him wherever he goes. No matter how much he complains, his mother won't budge.

"She's so annoying!" he yells. "Yesterday she told Bucky that we couldn't go in the woods because there are snakes!"

"Why don't you do something Joycelyn wants to do?"

"She only wants to do stupid girly things."

"Well I am raising a little gentleman, Michael, so you'll treat her like a lady. I won't have you turning out like your daddy."

Mike doesn't know what would be so bad about that.

**Five**

Toward the end of the summer, his father takes him camping. Joycelyn whines that she wants to come too, but no one let's her get her way this time. Mike is thrilled; it's his first real camping trip.

One night, under a sky of stars that go on forever, his father sits him down and says, "Look, kid, you've gotta stop giving your mama such a hard time."

Mike is astonished. "I don't."

"Yeah, you do. And you gotta stop. A real man knows when to keep his mouth shut."

It's the only advice his father has ever given him.

**Six**

When Mike's eleven, his mother decides he's going to play on junior football team. For once, he doesn't argue. He loves football and he's rather amazed that his mother agrees he can play.

The day of his first game is unseasonably warm, but Mike doesn't care because he feels like a star. He makes two touchdowns in the first half of the game and everyone there cheers his name.

His moment ends as soon as it begins. At halftime, the police arrive and from across the field, Mike watches as they arrest his father and drag him away in handcuffs.

**Seven**

There's no denial; no trial; no claims of self-defense. His father simply goes to jail, gone from Mike's life as though he was never there.

"Your father never got a break in his life," his mother says. She's getting ready to go to the sentencing hearing—dressing up like she's going to dinner.

"So? That doesn't make it okay!"

She catches his eye in her mirror. "You're right. All I'm saying is that maybe if someone had shown him a little kindness, things might've turned out different. You remember that, Michael."

He hates her for turning this into a lesson.

**Eight**

School is terrible. All of the other kids talk about his father; he gets quieter and quieter in class, eats lunch alone, and spends most of recess getting in fights with the other boys. They think it's funny. "What can we say to get Crazy Mike to crack?" Eventually he just starts ditching school.

Things at home aren't much better. His mother worries incessantly about money, but whenever Mike asks if he can get a job to help out she tells him that talking about money is distasteful.

He isn't upset when she announces they're moving in with his grandpa.

**Nine**

Mike hasn't seen his grandfather since he was about seven, but he remembers a sweet old man who always had candy in his pockets. The day he and his mother arrive, his grandfather takes him into his study, pushes him against the wall and says, "Let's get something straight right now, Michael. I expect three things from you. You go to school every day. You keep your smart mouth shut. And you don't get a girl pregnant. Are we clear?"

Mike's intimidated enough that he thinks he would agree to anything. As it is, he can only say, "Yes sir."

**Ten**

Mike learns quickly that it's easy to defy his grandfather's rules without outright disobeying. He goes to school, but barely does enough work to pass. Every respectful thing he says has just a twinge of sarcasm. The only rule he abides is the last, but only because he's not stupid enough to get a girl pregnant.

His grandfather shakes his head and mutters, "You're only a screw-up because you choose to be. It's a choice."

Mike just shrugs. "Yeah, but it's my choice."

The only thing is that it feels less and less like a choice with every passing day.


	8. Orson

**Disclaimer: **_Desperate Housewives _is not mine in any way. I just like to amuse myself.

**Story Summary: **A series of drabbles that focus on the pasts of different characters.

**Ten Snapshots**

By **Ryeloza**

**Eight: Orson**

**One**

Orson isn't allowed to build forts. His mother doesn't want him to ruin the good sheets, and they don't have old ones, so Orson has to pretend. He sits underneath the dining room table, very still and very quiet; this is his hideout—his secret place where no one can ever find him. There's not really room to play (he can't move the chairs if he wants to keep it undisclosed), but sometimes he brings his stuffed dog, Tuffles, and the two of them sit there and plan a hundred adventures that they'll have once they run away from home.

**Two**

His parents are fighting. They never fight in front of him, but Orson is hidden away in his fort and they don't know he's there. His mother shrieks; she wants another baby. She shouts this over and over, then, over her screaming, his father yells: "I'll kill you first, you bitch. Do you think I'd really bring another child into the world with you? Look what you've done to the kid we already have!"

His mother grows deadly silent. Then there is a loud _crack_ of someone being hit. "Don't tell me what I can or cannot have."

Orson cries.

**Three**

After his parents' fight, Orson decides it's time to run away from home, but it's another month before he has a chance. His parents leave him with his grandmother while they go out to dinner, and as soon as she falls asleep, Orson pulls out the bag he packed and heads out.

He goes to his friend Bobby's house. He knows Bobby from Sunday school—his mother said the only people he can associate with are people from church—and Bobby's mother has always said that he's welcome to come over any time. Orson knows she won't turn him away.

**Four**

The next day, Bobby's mother makes pancakes for breakfast, and even though Orson is starving, he only eats two because it seems impolite to stuff himself. He smiles and thanks her and uses his napkin and wipes his face; he behaves perfectly. So he doesn't understand why right after breakfast his mother shows up.

"Thank you for calling," his mother says through gritted teeth, her hand a vise on Orson's shoulder as he tries his best not to cry tears of betrayal. He can't look at Bobby's mother.

The whole way home, his mother doesn't release him from her grip.

**Five**

Orson can't talk to Bobby anymore. His mother says that Bobby's mother is a whore because she doesn't have a husband. Orson nods; he must obey. He knows that he'll never escape.

One day, he sees some boys calling Bobby names because he's slow in school. Without thinking, Orson runs over, fists clenched, but his mother quickly breaks up the fight. She drags him away, shouting, "You know why that boy's retarded? God is punishing his mother. Do you want to be punished too?"

Fearful, Orson says no, but once they're home, his mother locks him in the closet anyway.

**Six**

His parents' fighting is getting worse, but Orson isn't sure why. As far as he can tell, things are as bad as they always were.

They aren't private about it anymore. Often it happens at the dinner table, with Orson sitting right there instead of underneath the tablecloth. They still don't realize he's listening.

Almost daily, his father threatens to leave. "I'm going to take Orson and walk out this door and you'll never see either of us again!"

His mother always responds the same way: "You wouldn't dare!"

So far, his father hasn't dared, but Orson wishes he would.

**Seven**

When Orson is eleven, he ditches Sunday school. The first time, he just wants to see if he can, but when he gets away with it, he's exuberant. For one hour, he can do what he wants. Soon, he's doing it every week.

It goes on longer than he expects—six months before his parents find out. For once, it's not just his mother who's livid. His father shakes, enraged, as his mother shrieks, "Why do you make it impossible for me to love you? I can't love a sinner!"

"Sinners burn in hell," his father spits.

He's already there.

**Eight**

As punishment, his mother decides to home school him for the rest of the year. For four months, he only leaves the house to go to church on Sundays. The rest of his time is spent indoors, studying and enduring his mother's lessons. He's convinced that she's completely crazy; half of the time her lectures dissolve into long diatribes about infidelity and sinning.

"Infidels will be punished in hell," she hisses at him. "The sinners will die. Do you want to die, Orson?"

"No ma'am," he answers obediently. He doesn't remind her that he hasn't even kissed a girl yet.

**Nine**

That summer, when Orson is allowed out of the house again, he spends his time riding his bike around town, avoiding his home. He's twelve now; it's easier to evade his mother, though she makes him report his whereabouts every day.

Before school starts, he runs into Bobby's mother at the gas station. She smiles at him, waves, and Orson waves back. He understands better now why his mother hates her. She's sexy—all curves and waist-long red hair—the very picture of a siren. But Orson knows appearances are deceiving. It's the one thing he's learned from his mother.

**Ten**

That fall, he's allowed to go back to school, but every night his mother watches him like a hawk. His one break is Wednesday, when she has bible study. It isn't bad; his father's trying to teach him French, and Orson can watch fifteen minutes of television. The night ends when his father, often drunk, begins rambling about running away.

"We could try to leave her. We could try and try, but she'll always catch us. She's a demon. She can see everything. She knows everything. No, we'll never be free. Not until we're dead."

Orson fears that he's right.


End file.
